Carson City Board of Supervisors pick Garrett Lepire to Carson City Culture and Tourism Board

Carson City realtor Garrett Lepire was picked for the Carson City Culture and Tourism Board.
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The Carson City Board of Supervisors on Thursday appointed local realtor and community leader Garrett Lepire to the Carson City Culture and Tourism Authority Board.

Supervisors asked questions of Lepire and of candidate Mary Claire Bouche, saying both are equally qualified for the board position and that the decision was difficult given both are passionate community members with solid aims of building a strong visitor base.

Bouche is the founder and principal of MCBCreative in Carson City, an agency that specializes in visual brand identity, logos, websites, commercial photography and marketing strategies for small to mid-sized businesses and nonprofits.

In his remarks and submission statement, Lepire explained he wanted to serve on the Carson City Culture and Tourism Board because he genuinely believes in Carson City’s potential as a destination people choose to visit, invest in and fall in love with.

He explained how he’s seen firsthand how culture, events and strategic tourism can fuel local pride and economic growth and that serving on the board would be a natural extension of the work he’s already doing. Lepire is a parent, a broker/salesperson with ReMax Gold, a podcaster and an active member and past president of the Rotary Club of Carson City and recent Rotarian of the Year.

“Through my work in real estate and community leadership, I’ve become deeply invested in shaping how our city is experienced by both residents and visitors,” he said. “I’d bring a collaborative mindset, a strong pulse on local business and tourism trends, and a passion for promoting what makes Carson City special.”

During the interview, Lepire was asked by Mayor Lori Bagwell about marketing approaches and measuring successes, complimenting Carson City tourism’s short film and video project from winter 2024-25, which drew large online viewer numbers.

Lepire was asked about this and other ways Carson City tourism marketing can work. He said more films and videos, more online presentations, not only for winter but throughout the year.

To gauge success, Lepire said they can do it by continuing to look at metrics, “what kind of engagement that you get, what you are putting out online — whether it is likes, comments — is a good way to measure the impact, views and eyeballs you are getting on it. At the end of the day that’s what the marketing is all about, getting the eyeballs on it.”

He was asked by Supervisor Maurice “Mo” White what is the CTA doing that it isn’t currently doing now. Lepire said there are three areas that he believes CTA should be working on and those would be marketing Carson City’s ties to the railroads, through the Nevada State Railroad Museum and the V&T Railway. He said marketing and targeting railroad buffs on these Carson City assets should be stepped up.

As an example, Lepire said he learned a lot about visitors to Carson City by attending the Great Western Steam Up in July 2022, which celebrated the 150th anniversary of the V&T Railroad and featured more than 10 operating steam locomotives, the largest reunion of existing V&T locomotives in 75 years. The event drew thousands of railroad enthusiast who came from across the country to attend.

As part of his duties with the Rotary Club of Carson City, Lepire said he and other Rotarians “were blown away” from where people came from to attend, having met people from Florida, Maine and New York and all over the country, who all said they came to Carson City specifically to attend the event.

He also said there are many visitor opportunities through the historic Nevada State Prison, noting that Nevada State Prison Preservation Society’s General Manager Lucia Maloney is now at the helm of it and believes “she’s going to do a terrific job” and, with that, there’s opportunities for more events and marketing.

He said he was he would like the CTA to market more sports tourism, noting the city putting in artificial turf at Centennial Field will be an absolute draw for adult and youth sports, which will bring “more heads in beds” — where people stay, play and eat locally.

Supervisor Curtis Horton asked about the top two attractions that bring visitors to Carson City. Lepire noted there are several including outdoor activities such as hiking, biking, hunting and fishing in the area, museums and sports tourism, trains and the Nevada State Capitol, which people like to walk through and learn the history.

He noted there are nine golf courses between Carson Valley and Carson City that could be championed more to bring people from out of the area, which led Carson City Mayor Lori Bagwell to wonder aloud about what ever happened to the Divine Nine marketing strategy.

These are areas CTA should take more advantage of, Lepire said.

Both Supervisors White and Lisa Schuette noted the decision was difficult and that they leaned more toward Bouche.

Supervisor Stacey Giomi, who is the Supervisor on the CTA board, said “both are amazing people. I wish we could have both of you on the board today.”

Supervisors voted for Lepire, who will serve on the board for two years. He will join board members Diana C. Maisondieu-laforge, Kitty McKay, Daman Baath, Andrew Reno and Giomi.

In other board action:
— Supervisors OK’d Community Development two consent items: The first regarding a request from Scotch Ocean, LLC for an extension of time for an approved tentative subdivision map known as Blackstone Ranch South on property within the Blackstone Ranch South Specific Plan Area (“SPA”) and zoned Single Family Residential 6,000 Square Feet, located to the east of the eastern terminus of Railroad Drive and approximately 1,400 feet to the south of East 5th Street.

Community Development also presented a request from AMH NV17 Development, LLC, a Delaware limited liability company for a final subdivision map for a common open space development known as Blackstone Ranch North, Phase 2, resulting in the creation of 73 residential lots, common open space areas and rights-of-way on a 12.36 acre parcel zoned Multifamily Duplex, located within the Lompa Ranch North Specific Plan Area. Supervisors voted 4 to 1 on both items, with Supervisor White voting no.

Supervisors unanimously approved a request by Borda Crossing, LLC for a final subdivision map for a common open space development known as Borda Crossing, a subdivision of 5.26 acres resulting in the creation of 28 single family lots ranging in size from 5,009 to 5,040 square feet, 2 common area parcels and a public right-of-way, on a parcel zoned Single-Family 6,000 (“SF6”), located at the northeast corner of Clear View Drive and Silver Sage Drive.

Sheriff’s Jail Report

In the sheriff’s report on the required public status report of the Carson City Jail, Sgt. Mike Smith reported the following:

— Within the past six months there were no inmate deaths to report.

— The January through May inmate population average is around 162. The average stay in jail is 101 days. The male population makes up 75 percent of the total population. The female population is 25 percent. The male inmate population has averaged around 68 percent of capacity. The female inmate population has average around 50 percent capacity.

— CCSO is now live with NCIC Correction Services for telephone service, video visitation, inmate to officer communications (inmate kites). CCSO has replaced IC solutions.

— The Family Services Unit is now using tablets to provide parenting educational programs and GED preparatory classes. So far the program has assisted one former inmate to graduate with their diploma. For the future, the Family Services Unit will be partnering with UNR, which conducts child outreach services beyond education of incarcerated parents. The overall goal of this unit is to reduce recidivism for incarcerated parents.

— Building maintenance recorded 96 service requests from Jan. 1 to May 31, 2025.

— For 2025, detention medical staff has medically consulted 1,758 inmates for medical ailments.

— Five CIP projects were completed.

— A new inmate communication service is live within the jail.

— Fiscal year completed CIP projects include the replacement of the kitchen’s dishwasher, replacement of the firewall between kitchen appliances; replacement of kitchen ceiling tiles; refurbishment of the padded cell in jail booking and building a new booking counter with protective glass.

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